


Glowing Dim as an Ember

by Lurker55



Series: Third Time's the Charm [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Hatake Kakashi is a Good Teacher, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:42:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27564730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lurker55/pseuds/Lurker55
Summary: SI/OCA young adult woke up in the body of a child in the Naruto universe with no concrete memory of just how or why she ended up there. And since she had never read a fanfiction of a similar occurrence where the oc hadn't affected the storyline, she made plans to ensure the best outcome.But plans don't always work the way they're meant to, and while history may not repeat itself, it definitely echoes.
Series: Third Time's the Charm [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2014861
Comments: 11
Kudos: 83





	1. Genius plans of the Geninkind

**Author's Note:**

> After I don't know how long of mentally composing this, I'm actually writing it down. While it may not sound as good here as it does in my head, I hope it will be of some enjoyment to whoever happens to read it.
> 
> This is named after the song Once Upon a December (from the movie Anastasia), which I greatly enjoy listening to.

If the expression she could see on what was visible of his face was at all accurate, this wasn’t what he’d been expecting to walk in on.

If she hadn’t been intending to ensure he never treated her like some generic fangirl, she might have felt awkward with the way he just stared at the three of them. As it was, given that she believed she could see his bewilderment in spite of having the majority of his face hidden behind a mask, she felt somewhat accomplished. It wasn’t every day you got to confuse a jounin.

And if this particular jounin had only read their files and hadn’t actually taken the time to scout them out and see how their dynamic actually worked, he’d be completely lost as to why their particular team was actually coexisting in a non-life threatening manner and not only coexisting but bonding.

This was one occasion she was definitely thankful to have read so much Naruto fanfiction back home.

“I’m not sure if you’re aware of this,” she broke the silence that had fallen over the already echoingly empty classroom, “but this particular brand of nail polish is actually field tested with excellent results and should not be underestimated.”

Not to mention chakra conductive and an excellent way to discreetly keep tabs on her teammates.

She tilted her head slightly as he continued in silence.

Had she broken him earlier than intended?

That wasn’t how the plan was supposed to go! And she had put so much effort into creating one that would hopefully allow her to survive in a foreign universe until she could figure out if it was possible to get home.

“There’s a rather nice purple here that would suit your complexion fairly well.”

“I’ll pass.”

Okay, he’d spoken. Not broken then. She was still on track.

“Meet me on the roof in five minutes.”

A swirl of leaves settled down as he vanished. The three remaining individuals stared at each other.

“That’s our sensei?!”

“Obviously, dobe.”

“Don’t call me that, teme!”

“Five minutes gives us enough time to finish your nails Sasuke.” She interrupted the quarrel before it could really get going. “Naruto, get his thumb would you?”

“On it dattebayo!”

“Hn.” Sasuke settled just enough to allow Naruto to finish applying the dark blue while she packed away the rest of the polish. She glanced carefully over the results which were the product of many sessions of teaching her hyperactive friend just how nailpolish was meant to be applied. There weren’t even any major smears or smudges for Sasuke to be concerned about.

“Don’t forget to channel chakra there-”

“I know.”

“And you remembered too?”

“Yeah!” Naruto punched the air before waving his orange coloured fingernails around on display. “Team 7 is ready to go!”

“At least we won’t need to use some sort of time travel jutsu to make it there in time.” Not that it wouldn’t have been slightly ironic for them to show up late to a meeting with someone who was always late.

The three of them filtered out of the classroom and up onto the open space of the rooftop where the silver haired jounin was waiting for them.

“Let’s see…” He drawled as they sat down in front of him. “First off, why don’t you introduce yourselves.”

“Like what?” She jumped in before Naruto could open his mouth and derail her plot to derail the plot in a somewhat healthy and safeish manner.

“Your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future, that sort of thing.”

“You should go first!” Naruto burst out before she could respond. “We already know each other and you’re supposed to set an example for us dattebayo!”

Perfect.

She couldn’t have said it better herself.

“Me?” His one visible eye blinked lazily at them as he continued in a monotone voice. “My name is Hatake Kakashi… I have no intention of telling you my likes or dislikes… I have many hobbies… and dream for the future? I haven’t really thought of it.”

Of all those statements, she only believed the first and last ones. After all, given what she knew of his backstory, Hatake Kakashi was a very messed up and broken individual who by all rights should have committed suicide long ago and was completely unsuited for training them.

A favourite character? Yes. One she actually trusted to train her well? Nope.

“Okay!” She responded while hugging her knees to her chest. “My name is Kaori, I like some things and dislike some other things, I have hobbies I like doing, and my dream is a work in progress.”

Naruto crowed with laughter.

“I’m Uzumaki Naruto! I like awesome things and dislike stuff! I have hobbies and have a totally epic dream for the future, dattebayo!”

“Hn.”

She had trained them so well.

“Well then. I suppose that makes you each unique and special individuals.”

Kaori hadn’t even known that level of hidden sarcasm was possible.

“We’ll have a mission tomorrow.”

“Yes! What kind of mission sensei?!” Naruto vibrated in his seat.

“First, we’ll do what we can with just four people.A survival exercise.”

“But-but-but that’s not a mission! We did those all the time at the academy!”

Even knowing the creepy chuckle was coming didn’t make it any less creepy. If anything, it just made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up even more.

She took a slow breath and focused on watching their new sensei putting on his little show. There was no way he would actually let them fail. Last Uchiha and the jinchuriki on the same team? No way they were going back to the academy. That was why she’d specifically aimed to join them after all. She was still in control of the situation, right?

“What’s so funny sensei?” Someone had to ask and she couldn’t exactly trust the boys to handle it properly despite the many long hours she had spent attempting to turn them into somewhat normally functioning humans.

“Mah, if I tell you you won’t be as excited.”

“Hunh?”

Naruto just looked confused as the air seemed to grow colder and the jounin straightened his shoulders and leaned forward, propping his head against one of his hands in a menacing fashion.

Kaori watched him closely as he delivered his threat about the “very real” possibility of them failing and going back to the academy.

There was no way she was going to allow herself to be sent back there and in reach of Root and other hostiles she refused to consider.

He vanished in a swirl of leaves after leaving dire warnings as to the consequences of eating breakfast. She waited for a few seconds longer before she settled into a cross-legged position and mentally reviewed the steps of her so-called “master plan.”

Phase 1 was complete. Team 7 no longer included Haruno Sakura (which was rather unfortunate for her and would most likely prevent her from becoming a strong and effective kunoichi like in the manga), but a much more mature and competent reincarnation or other sort of insert of a woman whose life would actually make a difference this time (hopefully). They’d met Hatake Kakashi and made a completely different first impression from what she remembered in the anime she had watched snippets of in a previous life. It wasn’t like they could have done worse anyways.

Now came phase 2. Complete the bell test in a rather spectacular fashion that made said Hatake actually train them properly. She had no intention of being as helpless as in her previous life, especially against what she knew was coming up. Besides, if she did end up dying then she’d at least be capable enough that it was against some foe who was greatly beyond any of their capacities to fight and her death could serve as a motivator for Naruto.

If she’d already died once anyways, did it really matter if she did it again?

Maybe she’d wake up as an actual adult in her real body.

It was hard being stuck in the body of a kid, especially one that didn’t seem to have any family or other parental type figure. She knew she didn’t belong, knew she didn’t matter, but also knew that she had to at least try to make the best of things to avoid being tortured by some sinister group that would use her knowledge of the story- limited as that knowledge was- to make things worse.

Kaori (because she was Kaori now) had made plans. No one would expect a street urchin to have the knowledge that she did. No one would expect her to have read however many self insert fanfictions that could be used to prepare those plans. Sure, making those changes would eventually mean she couldn’t predict how the story would change, but it wasn’t like she would make it worse or anything. All she had to do was keep fairly close to the main storyline and change some of the interpersonal details for the better.

Right?

~*~

“We’re all clear about our roles?”

“Yatta!”

“And we’re all going to stick to the plan?”

“Hn.”

“And-”

“Come on, neechan!” Naruto tugged her down from her pacing to crash between the two of them. “We’ve got this dattebayo!”

“He’ll probably be late again anyways.” Sasuke shifted out from under her limbs to settle more comfortably against her.

“Fair enough, I guess.” Kaori fiddled with the sleeves of her jacket while taking precisely measured breaths to control the butterflies in her stomach.

Why couldn’t he just get this flipping test over with?

“Yo!”

“You’re late!” Naruto screamed accusingly as she shot into position for attacking.

“A black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way around.” 

Their new sensei stared at them with a disinterested gaze as Sasuke and Kaori scrambled to their feet.

“So-so-so what are we going to be doing?! We’re ready for you dattebayo!”

Kaori focused on analyzing her surroundings and tuned out his speech until he told them to start. She and Sasuke darted into the bushes while Naruto engaged as planned.

“Only two bells?” 

“Mission first, worry about that later.” She whispered in response to his tense query.

There was a moment of silence as he just looked at her before he nodded briefly and slipped away to his prearranged position. Two years ago, he definitely wouldn’t have just followed her questions without instruction.

Everything was going according to plan. Naruto’s pack of clones was engaging Kakashi-sensei and keeping him distracted while-

“Boo.”

The stupid moron of a jerkface stared up at her in her new and completely unplanned position amongst the stupid branches of the tree she had been hiding under. Kaori finished choking back what would have been a completely useless squeak of shock at leaping straight into the air and desperately attempted to reach for one of her kunai, only to have her grab blocked by the useless branch of wood that absolutely refused to cooperate with her.

“Mah, that’s not entirely the reaction I was expecting, but I suppose it works too.”

And then he had the nerve to ignore the killer intent she tried to emit and turn his back on her and fade back into the bushes while she dangled there helplessly in the tree’s limbs.

“Flipping son of a motherless goat.”

Why did trees have to hate her?! Why couldn’t they just cooperate with her for once? How the flip was she supposed to carry out her part of the plan while tangled up in this completely useless hunk of wood?

Hatake Kakashi would pay for this.

Once she was down.

“Hn.”

Kaori let out a low growl of annoyance and looked down to the forest floor after however many long minutes of stupidly useless struggles. Sasuke smirked up at her as she pushed helplessly against the stupid tree branches that were obviously conspiring against her. She glowered back at him.

“I-”

“Didn’t plan for this.” 

He was laughing at her, wasn’t he.

“Are you going to help me out or not?”

Another war cry sounded from the neighbouring clearing as the two genin stared at each other.

“Naruto’s going to need both of us if he has any chance of getting one of those bells, shadow clones or not.” Sasuke nimbly leaped up and sliced through the wood with a kunai, allowing her to tumble back towards the ground while twisting to land on her feet.

“We’re all in this together.” Her grin was probably looking slightly more manic than planned, but she didn’t want to waste energy trying to regulate it. “Let’s make the flipping jerk regret taking us on.”

From there the Plan went smoothly-ish. Naruto distracted, Kaori used that distraction to make openings, and Sasuke used those openings to make attempts on the bells. It was unfortunate that the jounin clearly had enough pride to keep them from actually gaining any, but by the time the alarm went off he didn’t immediately move to tie one of them up.

Had he gone after her she would have had no issue with biting him.

“I suppose this means you all… pass!”

Success!

“Wha-?! But-but-but we didn’t get any of the bells!”

Sasuke was looking confused as well.

“But we showed teamwork.” She could afford to be smug. Her Plan had worked out after all, despite the conspiracy between sensei and tree. “The academy test was to see if we had the skills to be genin, so it wouldn’t make sense for a repeat of those tests from our sensei. What else is important for genin teams to have?”

“They have to be able to work together.”

Clearly, Sasuke needed some education in identifying rhetorical questions.

“That’s right.” Kakashi-sensei spoke up while staring at her. “I suppose you know what this stone is for then?”

Kaori looked in the direction of his nod to see the memorial stone standing out of the grass.

“When a shinobi dies on a mission, their name is recorded on there.”

“That’s right.” His voice echoed over the three of them as they all turned to face it. “The names of all my friends are also on there.”

That… was actually kind of somewhat really awful.

“It seems as though the three of you may have some sort of understanding of what it means to be a shinobi, but always remember this.”

The very air held its breath as he continued.

“In the world of shinobi, those who break the rules are scum. But those who abandon their teammates are worse than scum.”

And wasn’t that a lovely note to end their time together on. Kaori slid her hands into her pockets as Kakashi-sensei dismissed them and left the three of them to a silence not even Naruto seemed to want to break.

The slight breeze fluttering gently over the long grass wasn't loud enough to mask their quiet breathing as they stared at the worn stone. Kaori allowed her eyes to flit over the etchings on it, not really taking in the names upon it. Maybe one day hers would be there, but she would consider her time here a success if she didn't add any names she knew hadn't been on there at the point of the story she would die in. It wasn't like she'd been important enough in her home world to make someone's life better let alone save anyone's life, but maybe here, maybe having the advantage of generally knowing how things would play out, she could make a good difference.

(Was it a real difference if she wasn't even fully sure if this was a real world?)

“I guess we’ll see each other tomorrow then.” 

Someone had to talk and she had basically reached her daily limit for socialization with kids anyways. Plus, there was no way she wanted to be present when Sasuke mentioned the tree conspiracy as he would undoubtedly do.

“But-but-but what about the ramen?!”

Flip, that was right.

They’d agreed to get ramen to celebrate passing, and as the only mature adult on the team she would have to act like it.

Dispersal was not an option after all.


	2. Feeling Senses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At least the catnip motivated their sensei?

He was late. 

Completely unacceptable.

“But he said to be here for 7!”

She would not put up with this.

“Hn.”

“He said we start training at 7.” Kaori turned to Naruto. “And since he’s not here, that must mean we’re not training like back at the academy.”

She had a Plan.

Sasuke looked slightly skeptical, but Naruto was eager for an explanation.

“Different ninja have different specialties, right?” She waited for their agreement. “So we should do some research on sensei and find out what his specialty is so we can properly train.”

That took a moment for the boys to wrap their heads around. To be fair, it was somewhat early in the morning.

They had been told to arrive at 7 for training, since Sensei wasn’t there he obviously thought they were capable of working out what it was he wanted them to start with. They were using logic to come to the appropriate conclusion, and if it happened that she could manipulate it to potentially motivate their wayward Sense to show up sooner than normal?

What could the drawbacks possibly be?

“Fine.” Sasuke grumped and straightened from his slouched position. “You’ve still got the Bingo Books, right?”

“Of course.” Kaori activated the storage seal on her upper right boot. “I’ve got the two older Konoha ones, an older Iwa one, and an older Kumo one plus the most recent Konoha one.”

She shot Naruto a Look that promptly squashed his complaint at having to study a book. She’d known him for long enough now.

“Any preferences?”

Sasuke worldessly grabbed the newest Konoha one while Naruto grumbled and went for the other native ones. Kaori flipped open her Iwa copy, taking care not to disturb the yellowed pages any more than necessary.

It had been a whim that led to her actually keeping the books. She’d just started experimenting with the seals on her boots, and there was really no way of knowing that those books wouldn’t come in handy.

After all, there was no such thing as being overprepared as long as you could carry it all.

~*~

“You’re late!” 

“Is that so?”

No, it wasn’t so.

Kakashi-sensei had told them to meet at 7 and it was basically 7.

Therefore, he couldn’t be Kakashi-sensei.

Kaori glared at the imposter suspiciously and whipped out a kunai.

“He’s never on time! So just who are you and wha-”

A jet of cold water blasted her face, cutting her off in mid sentence and obscuring her vision.

“What the flip?!” 

“Mah, so suspicious.”

“She’s right.” Sasuke had a kunai out as well as he faced the imposter who was actually pulling off an impressive mimicry of their sensei’s long-suffering look. “He never shows up on time.”

“I have recently discovered that certain puppies are unfortunately unable to be left unattended-” he blithely ignored Naruto’s cry of indignation at being referred to as a puppy, “-and have decided to… _adjust_ … my training methods accordingly.”

Kaori looked between the water pistol he was still holding and the maniacally creepy eye smile he was offering and had to conclude that they might have been pushing him a _bit_ far.

“So, my cute little students!” He continued beaming at them in an overly cheerful manner as even Naruto shut up and eyed him with some concern. “You wanted to train, right?”

Just a bit.

~*~

Teuchi-san gaped at the three genin as they dragged themselves onto the stools at his ramen stand.

“Naruto!” Ayame-san gasped as she came out from behind. “What happened?”

The three of them let out identical shudders.

“Training.”

Kaori dropped her head on the wooden counter as Naruto whispered. Sasuke leaned onto her shoulder in a half awake state. The two civilians exchanged bewildered glances.

“Training?”

“It’s what we need.” Kaori’s voice was slightly muffled by the unpolished wood of the remarkably comfortable counter. “Iznot gonna kill us… Much.”

Could she just skip supper and sleep there?

Apparently not.

“C’mon nee-chan.” Naruto pushed a bowl against her cheek as he regained some of his strength just by inhaling the scent. “Ramen!”

Sasuke grunted as he was displaced. Kaori grasped the offered chopsticks and took a deep breath to hopefully stay awake long enough to replace some of the calories she had burned.

“Is training supposed to leave you looking like that?”

“Hmwah?”

She glanced blearily at her teammates. The three of them looked as though they had fought a battle with a muddy river and lost. If a river could leave torn and singed edges of clothing.

“Oh. Sort of.” She blinked at Teuchi-san. “We might have gone… slightly over board with the catnip, so sensei’s decided to treat us like puppies or something.”

“Like puppies.”

“Hn.” 

“Or something.” She swallowed a mouthful of ramen. “He’s got a water gun that doesn’t seem to run out.”

“And cookies!” 

How did Naruto manage to have so much energy all the flipping time?

“Only Sasuke managed to get a cookie.” Said cookie-winner smirked smugly at her.

So maybe teaming up with Naruto to expose the imposter hadn’t been her brightest plan.

“We all got… wet.” 

Honestly, would it have killed him to use warm water instead of that icy spray he insisted on wielding like a madman?

“I… see?”

He clearly didn’t.

But that was okay.

As long as he kept feeding them hot food and didn’t let her fall asleep in her bowl of ramen, he was forgiven.

“Water for misbehaviour, cookies for rewards.” She elaborated. “Instead of carrot and stick, it’s cookies and water.”

“Carrot and stick?” Sasuke gave her a strange look.

Flip.

Different cultures, different comparisons. Or references. Or whatever the proper definition was that her brain had decided to forget.

“Mhm.”

She avoided being forced to explain by shoving another mouthful of ramen in. Sometimes, especially when she was tired like this, it was so easy to forget that she wasn’t just on vacation here and wouldn’t be waking up back at home in her actual bedroom with her actual family with actual food waiting for her in the fridge. 

“I think I’m just going to go get some sleep now.” For whatever reason, she wasn’t very hungry at that moment. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

Kaori pulled out the appropriate currency for a bowl of ramen, realized she had actually somehow eaten two, pulled out the remainder and slid it across the counter before exiting the stall and making her way back to her space on the other side of Konoha.

Not that the space was actually hers. She was just renting it until she could afford something better where she could leave what few possessions she had behind and not worry about them being stolen. 

For now though, it would do.

Even if it wasn’t a place she could call home.

~*~

Training the next day was very similar, except for the part where Naruto somehow managed to escape the squirt gun.

Kaori had no idea how the flip he managed it.

Even Sasuke looked slightly impressed whenever he thought no one noticed.

By the end of the week, both boys were going home dry and shooting her smug looks like the little jerks they were.

It wasn’t her fault their sensei was trigger happy.

At least he was training them. Once she had gotten somewhat used to actually spending a good 8 or so hours with nearly nonstop training she could actually appreciate it. 

It was actually kind of nice to be able to say she was able to run laps around Konoha without passing out from exhaustion. 

Kaori did have her suspicions about some of his training methods, but questioning them only resulted in further soaking her clothing, not to mention that he didn’t give her any time to change which meant she had to train wearing cold, wet, cold, and heavy and cold clothing. 

It was the most recent training idea in this second week that was giving her the biggest issue.

“But why does it have to be blindfolded…”

Kakashi-sensei stared back at her, clearly unimpressed.

“This isn’t optional.”

“Why can’t I even look inside it before?”

“That would defeat the purpose.”

“But your ‘purpose’ doesn’t even make sense!”

Why couldn’t he understand her frustration?

“That’s what’s called the chain of command.” He crouched down to her eye level. “You need to be capable of following instructions from your superiors even when you don’t understand them.”

And _die_. 

Right. 

Excellent plan.

“There’s a difference between following reasonable instructions and being thrown blindly into a situation where you’re just expected to sit back and do whatever you’re told in!”

“Which would be?”

She had to pause for a moment.

“There is!”

“Option 1, you can stay here being constantly drenched with lovely, freezing water, or option 2 you can stop whining and get it over with.”

“I’m not whining! I’m voicing a valid complaint!”

“Your choice.”

Cold or attempting to traverse an obstacle course where her only frame of reference was his instructions.

Jounin or not, she would find a way to make him regret this.

Kaori yanked the stupid blindfold from him and stalked over to the front of the enclosed maze. None of its obstacles were visible. She had no frame of reference. There wasn’t anyone else going with her. Naruto and Sasuke had been scurried off to some other location after they exited it, so they couldn’t share their experiences. It was just her and her sadistic sensei. And he wouldn’t even be in the maze with her.

Water blasted past her ear.

“Consider that your warning.”

Right. Cold or this.

She carefully tied on the blindfold and edged her way forward only to be stopped by a heavy hand on her shoulder.

“Nice try.”

He pulled the knot tighter, completely blocking out any source of light. All her other senses were going haywire. She could feel the slightest breeze sliding past the exposed skin on her face. The sound of her breathing was louder than she had anticipated. The last droplets of water from her previous soaking hovered on her lips, and she knew if she licked them off they would taste slightly salty as they mingled with her sweat.

“Take two steps forward.”

Right. She had to do this, didn’t she.

This or cold water.

Black or cold.

She kept her hands in front of her face as she took a tentative step forward.

Was it too late to change her mind?

This hadn’t been part of the plan!

“Crouch down to half your height and move forward three paces.”

But there was nothing in front of her? Or maybe it was lower- yep, there was a log or something there. She’d have to crouch.

“There’s a ladder directly to your left. Climb up four rungs and jump off to the right.”

Because that made so much sense?

Nope, it was a terrible idea.

The sensation of falling through nothing didn’t end. She just kept falling further and further. All she could feel was _cold_. It was dragging her further _down_. It weighed more heavily on her arms than any item of wet clothing. The _silence_ mocked her. She struggled for the ability to scream, to move, to even _breathe-_

“In and out.”

_Alone._

__

__

_She was all alone._

“You’re in Konoha in the training grounds. No one’s going to hurt you.”

_There was nothing left to feel. Nothing to touch or hear._

“Take it easy. It’s alright. You’re safe here.”

_She couldn’t even open her mouth. No tastes._

“I’ve got you. You’re going to be fine. No one’s going to hurt you.”

_Was that a smell?_

__

__

_She could smell_ something.

Fur, like from the cats back at home. Copper? Something metal? The scent of the air just after a rainstorm. Some sort of musky scent.

“You’re safe here.”

Right.

Kakashi-sensei.

Kaori took in a shuddering breath. She could feel some sort of stiff fabric against her cheek. Her wrists were being held together firmly by a hand wearing a thick glove. She was sitting in-

Oh.

She looked up shakily and blinked at the sight of her sensei’s face just above hers.

When had she sat down?

And she was supposed to have a blindfold on or it was going to be _cold-_

“Take it easy, just focus on breathing.”

She didn’t have the energy to struggle. There was another hand at the side of her head. It was pressed against her hair. The glove was against her ear. Her other ear was hearing a distant thumping sound. She needed to regain her breath. Her chest hurt like crazy. She was too young for a heart attack, so this was something else, right? 

“That’s right, in and out.”

The world was colourful. There was more than black nothingness. There were trees. They were brown and green and she had almost never been more grateful to be able to see colours again and she could feel _chakra_.

“Wh-wha-” When had her throat become so dry?

“It’s alright, you’ll be fine.” 

Her hands were shaking.

That was bad.

Shinobi had to have steady hands. She had to have steady hands if she was going to be able to use fuinjutsu.

Right?

And now there was a water canteen in her hands. Had she grabbed it?

“Small sips, nice and easy.”

That was right. Kakashi-sensei was holding her. So this was his water. She nearly choked on the first bit and realized just how thirsty she was.

“Take it easy.”

Her heartbeat started to return to normal and the feeling of nausea subsided as she managed to start breathing regularly. The regular sounds of the training ground returned as somewhere in the distance Naruto bellowed something indistinct while the thumping sound- sensei’s heartbeat?- faded. The maze was sitting innocently beside where she was sitting as the older man shifted her so her back was pressed to her sensei’s chest.

“‘M fine.” 

Well, this was embarrassing.

Or it would be if she had the energy to feel embarrassed.

But she didn’t.

So it wasn’t.

And that somehow made sense, she just couldn’t explain how right at that moment.

“Mah... you should probably rethink your definition of ‘fine’.”

Kaori pulled away slightly to test his grip on her before slumping further against him. It really wasn’t worth the effort.

She had no idea how long they sat like that before he sighed.

“We’ll end here for today.”

“Mhm.”

At least he wasn’t trying to make her talk about it.

“I’m going to be setting you up for an appointment with a Yamanaka.”

“I’m fine.”

“Not optional.” He spoke calmly, as though they were just discussing the weather. “I’m not qualified to discuss whatever triggered your panic attack, so I’ll let someone who is deal with it. Those kind of talks become mandatory once you’ve either made chuunin or served over five years, so it’s not something you’d never have had to deal with.”

Brilliant.

This would end well.

She must have made some sort of noise of displeasure that caused him to sigh.

“You’re my student, that makes it my responsibility to ensure you have the tools to survive.”

Right.

Surviving was good.

“...So I can go then?”

He shrugged slightly, but didn’t stop her from pulling away. He did have to catch her by the elbow when her legs decided not to cooperate.

Kaori took a deep breath and deliberately pulled her chakra in around herself, guiding it to her legs and strengthening them enough to stand on her own. The feeling of this sixth sense was a comfort to her. It wasn’t like the others she had had before back at home, but at the same time it was so natural. 

She allowed the awareness of the chakra within her so simmer through its veins. It curled gently around her tenketsu points, pulsing from one to another. If she hadn’t been so wary of attracting unwanted attention back at the academy, she would have asked one of her instructors if it was normal for chakra to feel like this or if she was just hyper aware of it.

Chakra made everything better.

Especially after being unable to feel anything.

It heightened the colours she could see, enhanced the sounds around her, made her aware of the way the soft fabric of her clothing rubbed against her body, allowed her to notice more subtle scents than she would have otherwise, and it certainly made food taste much better.

Especially plant based foods.

Meats? Not so much. 

It was hard to find a well done meat. If it wasn't cooked enough for her, she could still sense the tang of blood underneath it (and blood wasn’t her favourite taste after the… incident), and if meat was cooked to the extent that the flavour wasn’t there, it was usually either burnt or much too crispy.

Here though, in the late afternoon sun, she welcomed the extra sensory input. The cold from her last soaking had mostly faded away, even if her clothes were still damp. There were no yelling teammates around or other loud noises.

Just someone with an ANBU seal who had apparently decided to follow her.

Which was unfortunate.

Kaori shoved her hands deeply into her shorts pockets and sighed before directing her steps towards the library. She would have liked to have used the extra hour of time to practice fuinjutsu, but she couldn’t really do that with an unknown shinobi following her. Whoever it was wasn’t from Root, or at least didn’t have that nasty feeling seal on their tongue, but it still probably wasn’t the best idea for someone on the same team as Naruto to be showing a great interest in seals.

So she would have to study other things to do with chakra.

And now that she had her hitae-ate perched on her forehead, she could access the genin section of the library to see what information could be found there. It would be even better once she made chuunin or if she managed to get to jounin. 

The librarian behind the desk nodded at her absently when she arrived. Kaori offered her a smile back and went straight to the section on medical ninjustu. Even if she didn’t want to be a medic, (didn’t want to be the one holding back her teammates from leaving, didn’t want to feel the chakra just… stop…) this was still the section that had the most information on chakra.

She selected her titles and settled snugly into her spot in a quiet corner. ANBU person hadn’t followed her in, she could feel her chakra and wasn’t trapped in that- in that _blackness-_

The sting of nails cutting into her palm helped her focus on the book in front of her. 

_She could cope._


	3. Complicated Simplicity

It was a Gloriously Beautiful Evening!

Everything was _perfect!_

She loved her life so much!

“You’re starting to look like the dobe.”

Kaori spun around with an indignant squawk.

“I am not!” 

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in a very sensei-like fashion.

“You’re _bouncing_ down the street after a day full of D ranks.”

“And I’m perfectly within my rights to be thrilled about going home dry!”

He snorted.

“It sure took you long enough.”

Kaori didn’t deign to respond. Maybe it _had_ taken her a week longer than either of the boys to actually make it through training without Kakashi-sensei feeling the need to freeze her, but still! 

Not cold! 

“SAASUUKKEEE-KUUUNNN!”

A blur of blond launched itself towards her teammate, only to completely miss as he whipped around to be back to back with Kaori. 

“Hello to you too, Ino.” 

The other girl gaped at her for a moment before returning her attention to her target.

“You’ve gotten so fast Sasuke-kun!”

“Hnn.”

“It’s self preservation.” Kaori interpreted. “Sensei’s crazy.”

“Not as crazy as Asuma-sensei.” Ino tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder.

“I very much doubt that.”

“Nobody’s as crazy as Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto nearly crash landed into the discussion. “Hey Shikamaru! Hi Choji!”

She hadn’t even noticed him coming. Even with the distinctive seal on his stomach and polish on his nails, she hadn't been aware that he was within earshot. Maybe she should consider slipping some sort of specific tracker seal onto him?

“We’re going to be meeting up with Kiba’s team for barbecue! Wanna come?” 

“We are?” Sasuke voiced the question Kaori had just been wondering.

“Yeah!” Naruto went off on a tangent about some sort of incident that had led to him having to rescue the hapless Kiba and co. from some sort of demon cat, that led to them being so grateful they had to thank him by feeding him, but not with ramen, which was _awful_ because ramen was the best, but barbecue was good too, and of course everyone had to be included because they were just an awesome team, and now people were starting to recognize his awesomeness, and he was totally going to make hokage any day now, just you wait-

“Hn.”

“What’d you just say to me dattebayo?!”

“We’re going for barbecue.” Kaori neatly stepped between the two boys. “So are they just paying for your meal or ours as well?”

“It can be like an academy reunion!” Ino beamed. “I haven’t seen Hinata in _days_. Do you think they’ll have a salad option?”

“We’re kunoichi, Ino. Stop being so stupid about your precious diet and actually eat something healthy for once.”

That earned her a screech.

“A diet isn’t stupid! You tell her Choji! Your clan knows all about food-”

Choji stared at his female teammate with a slightly terrified expression while Shikamaru pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes before giving Kaori an unimpressed look. She shrugged back. 

“So. Barbecue?” She interrupted the rant.

If it was Kiba’s team suggesting the barbecue, it was definitely an Akimichi restaurant. Maybe even Torifu-san’s. He was the reason she could still eat meat after the… incident… and would make sure her share was done properly. Even if it wasn’t his place, she harboured a suspicion that he had notified other restaurant owners about her. It would be a very odd coincidence otherwise that all Akimichi restaurants suddenly started making sure their meat was cooked a certain way for her. If they weren’t so expensive compared to other civilian establishments, she wouldn’t even consider eating anywhere else.

It had been a while since she had had properly done meat. That was reason enough to go, even if would be interesting to hear how the other teams’ training schedules compared to theirs. But she very much doubted any of the other senseis trained their students like Kakashi-sensei did.

~*~

“And that concludes our session.” Yamanaka Kazane finished with an indulgent smile.

“Thank you Kazane-san.” Kaori rose to her feet and bowed politely.

“You’ve been making good progress. Keep up your breathing exercises and I’ll seem you in two weeks time.”

“I will.” Kaori bowed again before formally exiting the room. Kazane-san equated formality with health. As if all that mattered was being able to hold a mask.

Masks were easy.

All you had to know was what people were looking for. 

It had taken Kaori longer than she would have liked when she first woke up in this world- assuming she was actually existing in a story and not merely hallucinating it- to figure out what people were looking for. Her previous life had been one of relative safety and simplicity.

The world of ninja was full of danger and complexity.

It had taken her convincing Sasuke she was a shield from his fangirls to find someone who could help her figure things out. And after the massacre? (It had been the massacre that had truly convinced her that she wasn’t going to just wake up from a nightmare to find she was in a hospital bed with her family around her. It had been the massacre that had pushed her to consider the possibility of maybe being able to affect the storyline. It had been the massacre that left a lonely child for her to help that had really made her want to make a difference.)

Sasuke had needed the grounding of formality, its familiarity, to start figuring out how to function. Give him the opportunity to teach her its rules and expectations, let him gain some sense of purpose, of control over his surroundings. She got to help him and learn what she needed to act like she belonged. He got an anchor and an immediate goal he could work on beyond the nebulous ‘avenging his clan’.

Knowing what made both Sasuke and Naruto tick allowed her to figure out how to convince them to work together, as painfully aggravating as that process had been. And after… the incident… well, if it was for their own good, a bit of manipulation couldn’t really hurt. 

She had a perspective they didn’t. It was only right to make sure things went as smoothly as she could make them while the boys aimed for their goals.

Now she knew what her ‘therapist’ wanted to see, which meant she could start really figuring out what her sensei actually wanted to see.

Kaori could remember his general story from the various stories she had read, but remembering what specifics belonged to the actual story and what belonged to fanfiction? Nope. Not at all. Which made it difficult to figure him out. Generally speaking she was doing fine, but it wouldn’t hurt to do more research.

And there her sensei happened to be sitting in a bar at a table with other shinobi. Some she thought she recognized from Before, but assigning names wasn’t going to happen. But the one that was smoking, that was Ino’s team’s sensei. That would make the woman beside him Hinata’s sensei because in the story they’d ended up having a kid. And if the sensei’s were sitting together, maybe they were even discussing their teams.

It wouldn’t only be the genin with horror stories, right?

Kaori slipped in, avoiding looking directly at the table as she made her way over until she was within earshot.

“You think you’ve got it bad?” Kakashi-sensei raised his visible eyebrow at Asuma-sensei. “ _My_ kunoichi is a conspiracy theorist.”

“I am not!”

The entire table of shinobi turned to look at her. Kakashi-sensei slumped backwards in his chair and stared at the ceiling for a long moment before sighing and straightening up.

“Bars are off limits to underage patrons.” 

She raised a hand and pointedly tapped a finger on her hitae-ate. “I graduated. That makes me an adult.”

And thank whatever kami existed for that. Dealing with kids and being looked down on like a kid all the flipping time had been exhausting.

“She has a point.” Hinata’s sensei-what had been her name again- broke in. “However, you’re not recognized as a full adult until you turn sixteen or gain your chunin vest.”

Now she had Kaori’s attention.

“A full adult? But doesn’t that only apply to the clan kids?”

After all, a clan kid had other responsible adults who knew about being a shinobi that were there to support him, whereas a civilian born might have parents who would mess up their child’s career due to ignorance if something came up.

“Who holds your power of attorney?”

Kaori paused.

“...My what?”

So they had lawyers here too? Well, that made sense.

“Tch. They don’t teach half the stuff at the academy they used to.” One of the other shinobi muttered.

“A new shinobi from a clan has a clan member responsible for making important decisions, such as medical ones, until they make sixteen or chunin.” The kunoichi informed Kaori. “In a case like yours, your sensei is automatically granted that responsibility.”

So… That meant…

Kaori slowly turned her head to stare at the silver haired jounin who had his nose buried deeply in a little orange book and was completely oblivious to the conversation going on.

“But…” 

One of the other occupants at the table coughed slightly.

“Until I make chunin, right?”

“That’s correct.” Hinata’s sensei nodded. 

“And it’s his decision when I get nominated.”

“Yes.”

“So if he’s responsible for me, then anything I do until I get promoted is technically his fault.”

“No.” Kakashi-sensei _had_ been paying attention after all.

“That’s not really how it’s supposed to work…” Forgotten-name kunoichi glanced over at him.

“But I’m not wrong.” Kaori offered her an innocent smile. 

The cough that came again seemed to almost be hiding a laugh.

“Don’t even think about it.” Kakashi-sensei bit out, staring straight at her with no book in sight.

“I’m sure I have no idea what you could possibly be implying.” It hadn’t taken very long to… persuade… him to train them properly. It couldn’t be too much harder to make sure he was training them well enough to make chunin the first time around.

“Oh?” 

“I should really be going then! Underage and all.” She waved to the various shinobi watching the byplay. “Places to go, teammates to plot with-”

“ _Don’t-_ ”

She bolted for the door before he could say anything else, jumped to the side to avoid colliding with someone walking by, and found herself being lifted off the ground by the back of her jacket.

“Running away from your sensei, hmm?” 

He had been on the other side of the table, hemmed in by multiple shinobi. How the flip had she not even made it halfway across the room?

Kaori attempted to get a hold of the hand dragging her through the crowd. Her stupid sensei wasn’t even looking where they were going! And nobody was even paying attention to them, let alone assisting with her attempts of escape. 

“Let’s have a little talk, shall we?”

For some strange reason, the cheer in his voice made her feel like it would be a Very Bad Idea to try to get out of said little talk.

“...meep…”

~*~

Kaori eyed the bottle suspiciously as their Sensei plunked it down on a flat tree stump before whisking out three cups beside it.

“And now, my cute little students, who can guess what the purpose of this exercise is?”

“Blackmail.”

He crinkle smiled at her while ignoring the complete disgust and unenthusiasm she was attempting to communicate. It was completely unfair of him to put her in this scenario while she was still trying to come up with a way to push him into making sure she could graduate that didn’t overstep the boundaries he had laid down. How come _he_ could use blackmail against her when she couldn’t do it back?

“Ehh, what?!” Naruto’s head swiveled back and forth between the items on the stump and his Sensei. “Whaddya mean ‘blackmail’ dattebayo?”

“It’s alcohol, dobe.” 

“I know what it is, teme!” 

“And since you will all be in situations where you will end up needing to drink, it is important to know how it affects your system, what your limits are, and other important factors.”

“Such as blackmail.”

It was sorely tempting to bite at the hand that was reaching out to ruffle her hair in a patronizing fashion, but in an attempt to avoid the stupid squirt gun she settled for a growl and jerked away from his touch.

“Mah, so suspicious.”

“And correct.” 

Hadn’t he realized by now that she wasn’t some idiotic genin who would blindly follow his orders? She was mature! It was his own flipping fault he couldn’t recognize it!

“I’m not sure if you’re aware of this,” she drawled in a patronizing fashion, “but alcohol isn’t something that people who are still growing should be drinking due to the fact that it has a negative effect on their growth.”

“I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but as your Sensei it is my job to make sure you aren’t about to get yourself killed because you can’t recognize someone placing you under a genjutsu while you’re drunk.” 

He was deliberately trying to get her riled up, wasn’t he. 

“And since you won’t be my students by the time you finish whatever growing it is you have left to do, I need to take the time to teach you now things that will become relevant the older you get.”

Kaori let out a slight huff before pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

“I’m not going to be drinking.”

“I didn’t say it was a choice.”

Of course it wasn’t.

Honestly, what idiot had thought it would be a good idea to give him a team to teach? Sure it had been her own fault for ending up on the team she knew would have him as their Sensei, but really. Couldn’t they have at least given the jounins a crash course in how to teach before inflicting them on their students?

She glowered at the supposedly innocent cup sitting in front of her while the boys argued about whatever inane topic had caught their attention just then.

Why did it have to be alcohol?

And why did she have to be forced into an environment with drunks? It wasn’t like her teammates were going to have the sense to regulate themselves. If anything, they’d go off on one of their stupid competitions to see who could get themselves to the black out stage first.

A freezing blast of water caught her in the face, eliciting a sputtered shriek from her.

“The flip was that for?!”

A grey eye stared back at her calmly.

“You’ve been staring at the glass for the past half hour.”

“I’m getting there!” She hissed as she realized that both boys were laid out with their limbs askew on the grass while multiple empty liquor bottles were scattered around. There were plenty more beside Naruto, which made sense sort of considering that he had that healing factor thanks to the Kyuubi-

“I’ve also called your name several times.”

“Hunh?”

She’d have heard someone talking to her.

Sensei went boneless as he slumped against the tree in a position that should have been painful but instead looked ridiculously comfortable.

“Is there any particular reason you’d like to give me for why I should give you a pass on this lesson?”

Kaori choked as she froze under his gaze.

He didn’t know.

He couldn’t know.

There was no way. She hadn’t given anything away with her actions.

Apart from apparently spacing out so much she hadn’t heard him speaking directly to her. And right now when she should be saying something. 

“I…” Why was he watching her? Her eyes frantically darted around the small clearing. “I…”

Why the flip did this even need to be a topic of discussion?

Her fingers clenched and loosened on her arms. The fabric of the sleeves felt comforting as she pulled the jacket closer to her in an attempt to ward off the sudden cold spell that had arrived.

“I guess I just…” She sucked in a careful breath in a desperate attempt to keep her voice calm and steady. “Well… kind of had a… bad experience being around… others. With alcohol.”

There. She had said it. No more need for details or anything. Everything was fine.

“I see.”

What was there to see?

“Kaori.”

“What?!” She spat as she met his gaze defiantly.

“Focus.” He hadn’t changed position from where he was with the tree to his back. “You are in Konoha in the training grounds-”

“I know that!” 

Breathing. That’s what she needed to focus on. Make sure she was actually taking the deep breaths her chest was aching for. Make sure her hands weren’t shaking. 

“I’m fine.”

Always alright. 

“I’m fine.”

He didn’t respond for a long moment.

“Is there any particular reason you’re determined to make my life difficult?”

She sputtered indignantly.

“What the flip are you talking about?! I’m not making trouble! You’re-”

“Attempting to teach you.”

“That’s- that’s-”

Flip.

He was, wasn’t he.

That was what she’d planned for. Him to actually teach them. 

“...Sorry…”

But she still wasn’t going to drink.

“I can do a seal?” She glanced up tentatively. “That could negate the effects of alcohol? So I wouldn’t need that experience?”

“A seal, hm?”

She nodded.

“I’ve been sort of teaching myself.” She admitted. “It wouldn’t be too hard to make one to filter out toxic substances.”

“Including any medications that might become necessary?”

Point.

“...It could be turned off?”

There was a long moment of silence.

“Show me your proposed seal before any testing and I’ll decide then whether you’ll need to go through this lesson.”

That was… probably fair.

“Hai.” Kaori quietly agreed before staring at her teammates again. 

“Sensei?”

“Hmm?”

“You did agree this lesson could be useful for practicing blackmail, right?”

The shrug he gave her was totally one of agreement. 

It was a good thing she carried around a set of markers and a camera. It would serve as a satisfactory distraction from the rest of the… lesson.

**Author's Note:**

> I would welcome CONSTRUCTIVE criticism or other feedback! I'm deliberately aiming to not create a Mary Sue or some OP Oc, so... yeah. If there's anything that gives you worry I'm moving that direction, please do let me know :)


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